The present invention relates in general to media content notification and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for identifying content of potential interest to a given network user based on user information specific to the user and using a communication network to provide notification to the user regarding the identified media content.
In recent years, the types and quantity of media content available to consumers has expanded dramatically. Not too long ago, the media content available to many consumers at a given time might have included live performances or athletic events at perhaps a few venues, audio programming delivered via several radio stations and television programming delivered via a few channels. Today, live performances and athletic events have been increased in many areas and many choices are available via radio and television. In the latter regard, it is no longer uncommon to have access to hundreds of television channels. In addition, the internet increasingly competes for the attention of consumers with seemingly unlimited content options.
Without question, this explosion in media content has been driven, to some extent, by consumer demand and consumers have benefitted greatly from the increased entertainment and other information opportunities. However, the shear quantity of choices has also created some frustration. In particular, many consumers now find it difficult and unacceptably time consuming to keep track of the available choices and conventional guides are sometimes of little assistance. For example, conventional TV guides have been expanded in many cases to cover the many choices available via cable or a satellite dish. However, such guides can be difficult to use, especially when they attempt to cover cable choices that vary from area to area or when they attempt to cover all programming for hundreds of channels.
As a result, some consumers have been reduced to so-called xe2x80x9cchannel surfingxe2x80x9d in an attempt to manually survey the available options or have effectively given up on the idea of identifying the most interesting available option by adopting the habit of regularly returning to only a small number of channels. Even if one could become proficient in using conventional television guides and devoted the time necessary to select from all available options, only one medium would be mastered and the challenge of keeping track of other media would remain.
The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for identifying media content based on personal preferences and providing notification thereof, for example, via a communications network such as a telephone network or the Internet. The invention helps network users to keep track of the many media content options available and, therefore, to enjoy and more fully utilize the available media.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, content notifications are provided based on the interests of a particular network user. The corresponding method includes the steps of obtaining interest information relating to the interests of a particular consumer, identifying media content based on the interest information, generating notification information pertaining to the identified media content, and using a communications network to transmit the notification information to the network user. In this manner, the notifications can be tailored to the user""s interests so as to reduce the incidence of notifications that are not of interest and also so as to reduce the incidence of missed notifications that would have been of interest to the network user.
Preferably, the interest information is obtained by voluntary participation of the user. For example, the user may provide information relative to the demographics, psychographics, product interests, programming interests and lifestyle of the user upon registering to participate in the content notification program. Such information may have already been made available by the user at a separate registration site. Alternatively, information regarding the user may be obtained based on a monitored history of television network usage, Internet usage, or other information that may be derived by monitoring the user. Additionally, stored interest information may be continuously or periodically updated based on a learning process implemented by intelligent code based on television network or Internet usage patterns or the like. Such interest information can be employed to tailor the media content notifications to the user""s likely interests, thereby enhancing the value of the notification program.
The interest information may include any of various types of information that are preferably provided or determined at least in part by the user. Examples include: user contact information such as a name, billing or residence address, URL, or phone number; financial information such as a credit card number or bank account number; service or product information useful in shopping for or purchasing airline tickets, hotel rooms, books, music, clothing, etc.; personal interest information for identifying programming of likely interest to the user; personal records such as medical records and investment information (e.g., purchases, when purchased, prices, ticker symbols, numbers of shares, etc.); and other demographic or personal information. The notification information may be transmitted to the user via e-mail, wireless or wire-line telephone network, Web TV, or other communications network.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a user may register to receive media content notifications from time to time. For example, the user may elect to receive program notifications on a regular or periodic basis or upon the occurrence of certain trigger events. In this manner, the user may receive media content notifications on a daily, weekly or other basis. Additionally, the user may register to be notified upon the occurrence of certain events such as the announcement of a concert or other performance date, the release of a sound recording or other product, or other types of announcements. In this manner, the user can exercise control over the amount or frequency of notifications.